I’ve only recently become acquainted with your writing but wow am I impressed. You’re so good at capturing the essence of a topic, or person, and uncovering thoughts/feelings that typically go unnoticed. I appreciate the unique approach, the more soulful perspective. Unlike most of the genre, it’s this kind of sports writing that keeps me interested in the game. Well done.
Great post, Katie! Also, apologies for the late comment. Life's been hectic, but I'm taking time to catch up.
"Each interview, as all interviews are, a brief portal into that person. At the immediate level of the questions I’m asking and their answers but beyond that, the secondary glimpse given by body. If I’m there with them: facial expressions, the hitch of a breath, legs stretching out, relaxed; hands working the air expressively or perhaps kneading a bicep, rubbing their neck. If I’m not: the soft chuckle of recognition, a pause for thought, an intake of air and the speed the next sentence comes with."
Great point! I can see how interviews are a brief portal into a person. There's definitely a lot to learn from one's body language and nonverbal communication. I like how vivid your articles are :).
"Except when it’s Mike Conley, then there’s no question of who is bringing the life-affirming warmth." :) I remember the article that you wrote recently with him in it. It's awesome how kind he is (and sad how being kind is seen as 'radical' today). And warmth goes such a long way :)
I appreciate the compassion, warmth, insights, and empathy you bring to your writing too :).
I had seen some short clips of the handshake between Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley. His behavior really bothered me. I didn't see the presser afterward, after reading about it via your article, I'm disgusted by his responses too. Doubling down, making excuses, ugh...
"The person asking doesn’t care what anyone else thinks, or if they agree, because it isn’t relevant to reality the person thinks they’re in. It’s pure construct; scaffolding around an imagined sleight. It immediately offloads the responsibility for what happens next, at least in the mind of the speaker, because they have outsourced confirmation to whoever’s around. Confirmation and obligation. "
That's so true. And yeah, they and their supporters, when confronted, will just double down or try to excuse it by saying things like "it's a joke", "it's sarcasm", and gaslight away (and bash critics). And what bugs me even more about this is that these hypothetical questions and excuses are used to normalize these behaviors. It's disturbing and scary.
"We’ve not been faced with such public, bold-faced grasping and grifting in our daily lives as we have been in the past decade. It becomes difficult to parse which windows we’re meant to squint through to better understand a person and situation, which are actually worth our trust and time, and which we should quickly turn away from. " Very true! It's so taxing. Overwhelming. It's led to constant worries and it's too much. And, yeah, I agree it's tough to tell what's said in jest and what's serious, not to mention trying to keep up with it all.
" But there are limits to the way we should parse the world through other people. " Spot on (though I also understand viewing someone through someone else).
Great article again, Katie. Very insightful as always.
I’ve only recently become acquainted with your writing but wow am I impressed. You’re so good at capturing the essence of a topic, or person, and uncovering thoughts/feelings that typically go unnoticed. I appreciate the unique approach, the more soulful perspective. Unlike most of the genre, it’s this kind of sports writing that keeps me interested in the game. Well done.
This is really kind, Ron, thank you so much for reading!
Confirmation and obligation indeed.
Great post, Katie! Also, apologies for the late comment. Life's been hectic, but I'm taking time to catch up.
"Each interview, as all interviews are, a brief portal into that person. At the immediate level of the questions I’m asking and their answers but beyond that, the secondary glimpse given by body. If I’m there with them: facial expressions, the hitch of a breath, legs stretching out, relaxed; hands working the air expressively or perhaps kneading a bicep, rubbing their neck. If I’m not: the soft chuckle of recognition, a pause for thought, an intake of air and the speed the next sentence comes with."
Great point! I can see how interviews are a brief portal into a person. There's definitely a lot to learn from one's body language and nonverbal communication. I like how vivid your articles are :).
"Except when it’s Mike Conley, then there’s no question of who is bringing the life-affirming warmth." :) I remember the article that you wrote recently with him in it. It's awesome how kind he is (and sad how being kind is seen as 'radical' today). And warmth goes such a long way :)
I appreciate the compassion, warmth, insights, and empathy you bring to your writing too :).
I had seen some short clips of the handshake between Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley. His behavior really bothered me. I didn't see the presser afterward, after reading about it via your article, I'm disgusted by his responses too. Doubling down, making excuses, ugh...
"The person asking doesn’t care what anyone else thinks, or if they agree, because it isn’t relevant to reality the person thinks they’re in. It’s pure construct; scaffolding around an imagined sleight. It immediately offloads the responsibility for what happens next, at least in the mind of the speaker, because they have outsourced confirmation to whoever’s around. Confirmation and obligation. "
That's so true. And yeah, they and their supporters, when confronted, will just double down or try to excuse it by saying things like "it's a joke", "it's sarcasm", and gaslight away (and bash critics). And what bugs me even more about this is that these hypothetical questions and excuses are used to normalize these behaviors. It's disturbing and scary.
"We’ve not been faced with such public, bold-faced grasping and grifting in our daily lives as we have been in the past decade. It becomes difficult to parse which windows we’re meant to squint through to better understand a person and situation, which are actually worth our trust and time, and which we should quickly turn away from. " Very true! It's so taxing. Overwhelming. It's led to constant worries and it's too much. And, yeah, I agree it's tough to tell what's said in jest and what's serious, not to mention trying to keep up with it all.
" But there are limits to the way we should parse the world through other people. " Spot on (though I also understand viewing someone through someone else).
Great article again, Katie. Very insightful as always.
Take care.